I have bought a lot of smaller multi-family and I will quite often put it under contract before I go look at it because I'm familiar with all of the product available in my area and know what I'm looking for.I don't do that on larger multi-family but I have a good idea of what I'm looking for so I would not go look at it unless it met everything I was looking for on paper and that only happens very rarely.So let me challenge you a bit.

if one can already afford a home that’s extremely above the national average, I don’t think renting is on their plate as an option. 

The bill reads "if the average modified gross income of the taxpayer for the taxable year and the 2 preceding taxable years exceeds..."

The thing is you can make money in areas that are average in nature because people like to rent in many areas for different reasons. 

At least not in the numbers we like to see.Kalamazoo has ballooned past its historical average and every time the city has done that it has had small price drops.

I send everyone to First Financial NW Bank for commercial products.

Which product type will generate you the most return on your investment. 

Product sheet on the site.  10,000 loan variations plus a net branch system where you can learn the lending side of things and earn on both sides of the fence, doing your own real estate deals and the ones you don't offering financing. 

So on average we are going to be paying more for the same Cashflow, or another way to look at it, we are paying for future Cashflow. 

So far I've encountered a lot of people trying to sell me their products, strategies and programs.